EXPLORING RIVERINE ENVIRONMENTS BY CANOE: A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION T Dawson, West Gippsland Waterwatch ABSTRACT: Canoe touring of rivers is an effective environmental education tool that provides meaningful experiences for community participants. The West Gippsland Waterwatch program has organised and undertaken two popular community canoe tours along the Latrobe and Tarwin Rivers in the last 12 months. Through this experience, the program has learned how to successfully design, plan and facilitate a community canoe tour to achieve maximum impact and satisfaction. This paper will cover key learning’s and share tips on how to undertake your own regional canoe trip. Topics include: safe participation, encouraging the ‘right’ attitude, minimising barriers to participation (distance/time, bad weather, cost, etc.), what topics should be discussed en route (fish species, resource use, human impacts, etc.), involving other agencies/organisations, rewarding participants, providing feedback opportunities, as well as personal, team and leadership development. INTRODUCTION: In the past 12months West Gippsland Waterwatch have organised and undertaken two very successful and popular canoe tours for the public, the Latrobe River Canoe Tour and the Tarwin River Canoe Tour, see table one for details of each event. The focus was to provide a novel opportunity for the community to gain new insights into the social, cultural and environmental values of rivers in a fun and interesting way. Participants were encouraged to express their attitudes towards waterways and to ask questions that would be openly answered by experts from particular fields. Canoeing was the preferred method of delivery because: ♦ of the terrain that most rivers wind themselves through; ♦ exploration by paddling is often the most environmentally friendly; ♦ geology, flora, human impacts, resource use, river bank ecosystems, fish species, recreational use impacts, and aboriginal history, are most easily studied from the river; ♦ the silent nature of paddling allows for good observation of birds etc. and; ♦ you can experience the bigger picture of a river, either by paddling its whole length over a period of time or several distinct sections of the same river (Thomas and Thomas 2000). Table 1 Details for the West Gippsland Waterwatch Latrobe River and Tarwin River Canoe Tours Latrobe River Canoe Tour Tarwin River Canoe Tour 1st and 2nd May 2004 13th Nov 2004 95 participants. 70 participants. 2 day event. 1 day event. 4 different sections of the same river. Single reach of river split into two stages. Participants could choose to complete one, two, Participants could choose to complete one or three, or all four of the stages. both stages. 20 canoes per stage. Two people per canoe. 18 canoes per stage. Two people per canoe. Drinks and snacks provided for each of the 4 Drinks and snacks provided during lunch break. stages. Billy tea and damper provided on Billy tea and scones provided on completion of completion of 4th stage. 2nd stage. Activity leaders and speakers presented with a Activity leaders and speakers presented with a T-shirt to wear at the event, and as a gift of T-shirt to wear at the event, and as a gift of appreciation. appreciation. Due to the 4 stages being separated by large Participants were able to meet and leave their distances, participants were asked to move cars cars at the ending point so that a bus could take to appropriate meeting places and were then them to the beginning of the tour. bussed to starting points or back to their cars. People with their own canoes were allowed to People wishing to use their own canoes were participate, but were advised they would not be strongly advised to use the canoes provided as covered by WGCMA/Canoe operator insurance. they would not be covered by insurance. Photo 1 Cultural Heritage Officer, Photo 2 Presenter, Wayne Gilmour from Gerry Laughton speaks to participants the West Gippsland Catchment while they enjoy warm damper and billy Management Authority talks about tea after a cold day on the Latrobe River floodplain management along the Tarwin River Photo 3 Canoeing past Fish Creek Drain Photo 4 Two participants enjoy their on the Tarwin River tour of the Latrobe River A GUIDE TO GET YOU STARTED: The following is a list of helpful suggestions to get you planning your canoe tour. Know Who You Want To Participate West Gippsland Waterwatch decided their canoe tours were for the general community. The aim was to attract new people to the Waterwatch program, but not to limit the tour to people with canoeing experience. It was for the general public with an interest in their local environment. This meant it would need to be easy for the general public to participate. A list of potential barriers was noted and steps were taken to reduce their impact. Minimise Barriers To Participation Barrier: Little or no canoeing experience Provide paddling and safety instruction. Develop enough skill to equip participants with a minimum level of judgement and skill to access the river. While safe participation is necessary, don’t allow it to dominate the experience of the tour. West Gippsland Waterwatch hired local professional canoe tour operators to instruct participants before and during the Latrobe River and Tarwin River canoe tours. Be aware that for safety reasons you will need one professional per 6-10 people, depending on the operator’s requirements. Barrier: Lack of appropriate equipment Provide equipment. West Gippsland Waterwatch hired a local canoe operator who provided all the necessary canoe and safety equipment required. Barrier: Cost for participation West Gippsland Waterwatch did not charge a participation fee to cover any costs incurred as a result of the event. Participant feedback showed this was important to their participation. Barrier: Difficulty in moving cars around to pick-up and drop-off points Provide a bus. The type of bus you choose will depend on how many you are catering for, whether you can afford to do more than one trip, and what your access roads are like. Provision of bus transport was found to be key to the organisation of the day(s). Decide on an appropriate meeting place, and allow space for the number of cars you expect. Bus participants to the starting point and then back to their cars, if your tour does not finish where cars have been parked. It is advisable to finish at participants cars so they can quickly grab towels, a change of clothes or go home if the weather is bad. Use the travel time on the bus to introduce the event leaders and give some background information. Have people sign in as they get onto the bus, this way you have an accurate account of who is present on the day. Barrier: The canoe tour is too far away or the time on the water is too long/short Some people may want to participate but are worried about their capabilities or time commitments. Providing choices for location and duration means people can choose a level of participation without having to miss out altogether. West Gippsland Waterwatch varied each of the stages in terms of length, technical difficulty and the environmental issues represented. Where Do You Want To Canoe? List several ideas and assess which are the most appropriate. You can only do this by canoeing the river yourself. Things to consider: ♦ Can canoes easily get in and out of the water at your start and end points? ♦ Are there any dangers or sections of the river that are impenetrable or inappropriate? ♦ Are roads safe and accessible at the time of the year you are planning to hold your event? ♦ Time the trip. Remember it will take longer for the more people you have. Time will also be affected by winds, tides, participant’s’ level of experience, water heights, new obstacles such as fallen trees and other changes in the river. How Many People Do You Wish To Participate? This will be determined by what you can afford (advertising, lunch, drinks, snacks, buses, canoe hire etc.), number of staff/event leaders, technical difficulty of river, and time constraints. West Gippsland Waterwatch catered for a maximum of 20 canoes (40 people) on the tours. Anymore people than this would mean that the group becomes too spread out and they may not be able to hear what the presenter is saying. What Do You Want People To Learn About? This is a great opportunity to involve other organisations, but be careful not to loose your influence on the event. Table two shows the types of topics relevant to West Gippsland waterways and the organisations involved in presenting information about their work and impacts on the river, during the canoe tour. Organisations in the West Gippsland region were more than happy to donate their time for Waterwatch tours because it is an opportunity for the community to learn about them and to highlight any misconceptions. Table 2 Topics and organisations involved in the West Gippsland Waterwatch Canoe Tours Coastcare Issues Coastcare Gunai/Kurnai welcome Cultural Heritage Officer Living with floods, floodplain & flood gate West Gippsland Catchment Management management Authority Bank stabilisation and prevention of stock access Landcare Willow trees and other invasive species Department of Primary Industries Bird Research Projects Birds Australia Irrigation Issues Southern Rural Water Historical river usage and the historical Swing Local Historian Bridge Carp Management K&C Fisheries Environmental Flows West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority Family History, personal connections with the Local farmer river Australian Paper Mill river usage Australian Paper Mill Water quality monitoring SGS Environmental Services Local rehabilitation project on the Moe River West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority How does the EPA protect our waterways? Environment Protection Authority KEY LEARNING’S ♦ Provide an information kit for participants.